Does Clem have a death wish?
BigBlindMax
Banned
Over the past couple weeks, I've noticed some threads discussing Clementine's mental health, but few seemed to mention an important aspect of her character; self-sacrifice.
Depending on how you play through episodes one and two, there are several instances in which Clem seems a bit too eager to put herself in the line of fire. The most notable example occurs at the end of episode 2, if you decide to surrender. One option causes Clementine to charge at Carver with her hands still bound and allow herself to be put a gunpoint in a bid to save Alvin, some guy she's only known for a week.
The question: Is Clementine just incredibly brave and a bit reckless, or is she becoming a death-seeker with no regard for her own safety? Honestly, I'm inclined to lean toward the latter.
Does this mean that Clem is ready to put a gun to her head? Hell no...but I wouldn't be surprised if she continues to take on suicidal odds in the future. If you think about it, her mindset isn't that different from Kenny at the end of season one. She's lost practically everyone that she cares about and she would rather sacrifice herself than lose anyone else.
What do you think? Why is Clementine putting her life on the line? Is she trying to find redemption, or just tired of living in such a fucked up world? Is she going to jump on another grenade next episode? Will Carlos, Luke or Carver call her out on these kinds of stunts?
Comments
As one of the people who thought the bum-rushing option was pointless, that would be an interesting way to give it relevance. If anyone was going to point out this behavior I'd like it to be Luke. He recognizes she's capable but also doesn't want her taking unnecessary risks.
Regarding Clem's motivation it could be redemption but that depends on the individual player. In my case, I think she'd do it because Alvin being picked would make her regret simply giving up (thus leaving herself at the enemy's mercy). A last ditch effort to take back control if you will. Alternatively, she could've been banking on the gunmen not considering her enough of a threat to gun down.
It depends on how you play as her, I have a more humble and realistic approach to the way I play as a 11 year old girl..
It was the same with Lee, you could be normal with him or be a complete evil nutter with him sometimes. XD
No she doesn't have a deathwish in my playthrough. No way!
She's just very brave and wants to help her friends. She knows people underestimate her so she rushed in knowing that bonnie or troy would never shoot her.
She's indirectly responsible for getting a few people killed; which one dialogue option with Luke indicates she blames herself for. Perhaps she just wants to save someone this time.
I don't think Clementine is at that point yet, She is not mentally weak. I think at heart, She feels like she caused the deaths of Lee, Ben (If Saved), and Omid and she more than killing herself or just giving up is looking to do something that would sort of make up for her mistakes, Something Lee would be proud of. Clementine will not end up committing suicide but Im sure That choice will be hinted throughout the rest of this Season.
I think Clem will never kill herself because thats not what Lee taught her
True. It definitely depends on the player. I tend to play as a pragmatic anti-hero, so even when I surrendered, the option to protect Alvin isn't my natural inclination. But then, I was like...'REMEMBER THE JUICE BOX! CHARR-' ow.
My Clementine doesn't have a death wish. I didn't charge towards Carver and instead just let Alvin die.
SaltLick305 writes a comment, instant Thumbs up follow!
Anyway, you are right. Clementine doesn't have a death wish (yet), but she might feel guilty for the deaths of Lee and Omid, depending on the choices we made in our playthoughs.
You're ungrateful! No more juice for you!
Suicide or attempted suicide would be overly dark to the point of stupidity. But I think she seems more nd more likely to take a "damn the risks I'm going for it." kind of approach. It's not attempted suicide, but the results are often similar. Combine that with an assumption of invulnerability that comes with adolescence, that attitude might be a disaster waiting to happen.
I don't like juice anyway. This guy was kinda nice in episode 1, but I don't really like him in episode 2.
How dare you!?
It's not so much of a death wish,it's in fact quite the contrary. It's just that old naive bravery aspect of her personality that's still shining through, from even before Season 2.
It might be a good or a bad thing, and it might end up biting her in the ass later on, but if you've paid attention to her character since Season 1, she's always been like this. Eager to prove herself of being a capable and helpful survivor.
She has quite the will to live, and isn't afraid to charge in headfirst if it means helping the group
I recall a lot scenes off the top of my head from Season 1 where this aspect of her personality shows:
*Helping Lee find something to block the door at the drugstore when she could have just ran to safety
*The whole train station scenario when we first meet Christa, she wants prove she can be a capable team member to Lee
*Crawling through the doggy door without warning at the start of EP 4, so she can unlock the mansion for everyone
*Going after Lee and Kenny on her own when we first meet Molly, when they're out looking for boats
*Exploring the mansion's surroundings on her own, which led her to finding the boat for the group
*Making up her mind to go to Crawford with the group, despite the danger
*Joining the fight in the Ben hatchet incident, potentially saving Molly
*Alternatively, saving Omid's life if she was left behind at the mansion, by killing a walker that's broken into the mansion, all by herself
*Standing her ground when everyone was arguing about leaving Ben behind
*Her determination to find her parents on her own, in case Lee wouldn't help her [which led to her kidnapping]
*Shooting the Stranger to save Lee
*Dragging Lee through the walker horde towards safety when he collapses in the middle of the street
*And finally, she made it out of Savannah all the way to the countryside on her own as well, in the season 1 epilogue
Good point! Episode 4 iswhen we really start to see Clem develop this tendency and shows that her willingness to be brave and take the initiative, which can be both a blessing and a curse. Only time will tell how far she is willing to go in order to prove herself, and where the line should be drawn between being helpful and taking unnecessary risks.
It was just a dumb, reckless, spur-of-the-moment thing that she felt like she needed to do. I don't think there would have been any risk calculation or planning or forethought going on. She just saw Carver put a bullet through the back of Walter's head and she knew that he would have no problem doing the same to Alvin. So she just did the only thing she could think of to do in that moment.
I do wonder how many people would have chosen that option though, if it was something like [Charge at Carver]. I certainly wouldn't have.
Indeed, it might be a blessing or a flaw. Or both.
Time will tell!
Well said!
I agree that [CHAARRRRGE!] probably would have been more descriptive. I was expecting her to verbally defend Alvin, at first.
I doubt she has an actual death wish simply because she fights too much and in near-death situations, but she is kinda reckless. I think she is a little too brave and too eager to prove herself to others, and that she's so used to taking risks and being in danger that acting the way she does might just be perfectly normal to her.
Yeah, it's plausible. I think the purpose of bringing Kenny back was to probably cause him more mental "damage" so he can hate on us, and doing that would make Clem feel even more guilty.
Anyways, you were out for a long time. Glad you're still here, bro
[removed]
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